THE ANTIDOTE FOR WORRY
Mike Cunningham
September 28, 2014

I praise God for all the insights that were in my most recent sermons. By using them I was able to overcome the temptation to worry during this past week of wrestling with my latest divinely ordained circumstances. Of course, you and I should be concerned about all the evil taking place in our sin-drenched world but not to the point that we will worry. It’s been one of my heartfelt desires that through today’s sermon each of you folks will understand that God has given every Christian the antidote for worry.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Commenting on these verses, Alexander Smellie first quotes Isaiah 43:1

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you! I have called you by your name–you are Mine!

Then he says: “God is intensely desirous of ridding me of my needless fears. Doesn’t He give me reason after reason to have a feeling of peace, calmness and hope?

1. “Fear not,” He says, “for I have redeemed you!”
What a work it was!
What a price it demanded!
What a sorrow it involved!
It meant the surrender and sacrifice of His Son, His Only-Begotten, His Well-Beloved. It meant for the King of Glory, to be born in a lowly stable, with the ox and donkey and camel. After a life of suffering, it meant a stark and dreadful Cross on the Hill of Shame!

A Scottish professor, who retained to the last a childlike heart, speaking to his students one day about the atoning sacrifice of Calvary, said, with the tears running down his cheeks, “Ay, ay, do you know what it was? Do you know what it was? It was damnation–and He took it lovingly!”

It was my damnation–and He took it lovingly! And since God gave all this for me–then how can He ever abandon me? Let my heart be confident and strong.

2. There is His understanding of my case. “Fear not,” He continues, “for I have called you by name!” He has such multitudes to remember, and yet He knows me individually and intimately! The stars lie along the face of the sky like bright-unnumbered dust; but He knows star from star. The flowers spring up in battalions; but not a single flower is “born to blush unseen”–He knows it, and rejoices in it. There are billions of people in the world today, and I cannot grasp the tremendous aggregate; but He is familiar with each beating soul.

Just so, He comprehends . . .
my special needs and circumstances,
my overbearing duties,
my sore temptations,
my herculean difficulties,
my subtle and persevering foes.
Should I not be strong and courageous, when the Lord of Heaven has such perfect acquaintance with me?

3. And there is His ownership of my soul. “Fear not,” He commands once more, “for you are Mine!” In a sense I was always His possession; but since He purchased me with Christ’s blood, I am among . . .
His jewels,
His trophies,
His special possessions,
His redeemed children!

Why should I be worried? I am Christ’s redeemed child, and He owns and keeps me! (1)

In his insightful book, ‘When I Am Afraid, Edward Welch shares the following concerning Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Welch says that, “The God of kept promises is faithful. The Lord reigns. Things are not always the way they seem. With the unaided eye, circumstances might indeed seem dire, but eyes of faith see that God is our strength and shield.

2 Kings 6:15-18 (NIV)
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.
16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17 And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Strike these people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

As with other stories in the Bible, this story is God’s word to you. It is to encourage your confidence in the trustworthy God.

The writer of Psalm 46 certainly had his eyes open. He is persuaded that the God who mad promises is faithful. Consider making this Psalm your own.

Psalm 46:1-11 (NIV)
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

The Psalm divides into three stanzas, each one ending with “Selah.”

In the first stanza the psalmist remembers that God helps when He is needed. Of course, you need Him every day, but there are times that are particularly dire. Especially at those times He is an “ever-present help.”

Psalm 46:1-3 (NIV)
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah

The psalmist then shifts his attention from the chaos around him to the kingdom of heaven, where God reigns, and His will is done. He is thinking about Jerusalem and the Temple worship. Wherever God is present, there is no reason to be afraid. The psalmist envisions the city. He is with God and God’s people. What more could he want?

Psalm 46:4-7 (NIV)
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Some people try to use positive thinking to alleviate their fears. Instead, the Lord opens eyes to reality. He reminds that things are not the way they seem. When you are in God’s kingdom-in the presence of the King-things are always proven to be better than they had seemed.

This stanza leads you to a familiar place: “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (v.7). When in doubt remember that promise. Since you will hear it again before the psalmist is done, it would be a refrain worth memorizing.

“The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” This is unwavering confidence in God’s promises, and the psalmist asks you to join him that confidence.

The final stanza of Psalm 46 points to the coming judgment day, and the psalmist looks to it with great joy. On that day God’s justice will cover the earth. All oppression will be stopped in its tracks. Wars will cease, and both the injustices that start wars and the injustices that prolong them will be banished. That is a reason for joy and hope.

Psalm 46:8-11 (NIV)
8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Notice that it is God himself who is speaking here. With a word, God will call all oppressors to attention. When He speaks they will immediately stop their wicked ways. The true King had been patient with the nations up to that point by giving them time to lay down their arms and submit to King Jesus. Once He says, “Be still,” all rebellion against the King will cease. Everything will indeed end well. You might notice a familiar voice in God’s command to be still.

Mark 4:35-41 (NIV)
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”
36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Jesus is committed to a thorough re-creation. What He does with the winds and the sea is a signpost that pointed to how He will reign and bring justice to all nations. This event with His disciples announces that the deepest sense of Psalm 46 is being fulfilled.

When the cross of Jesus proclaiming that your sins have been paid for, and with His resurrection assuring you that He is now the reigning King, you can trust Him for the future and focus on today.

It is so deceptively simple; focus on today. Turn away from a worrisome future and face today with all its troubles and kingdom opportunities. This is certainly one application of Psalm 46.

Since today is filled with its own troubles, today starts with prayer-that’s what you just did with the psalm. You know the King hears you, and you also know that prayer is the human vehicle that causes the kingdom of heaven to break through earthly strongholds.

The apostle wrote: Ephesians 4:4-6 (NIV)
4 There is one body and one Spirit– just as you were called to one hope when you were called–
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. This means that you should speak to the King about your worries.

Here is a way to picture what you are doing when you pray. You are coming before the King. You come with humility because he is, after all, the King, and you have nothing to offer him. He receives no particular benefit by having you as his subject. Indeed, you are costly to him. Even so, he invites you to come to him with your burdens and cast those burdens down. At first you assume that his servants will carry them away, but the King actually comes close to you and takes the burdens unto himself.

It doesn’t seem right that your King and Father should take your worries on himself, but there is no reason to feel guilty for inequity in this relationship. Your King has always been the pursuer who loves you first, and he always will be. All you have to do is respond by praising him and telling others about his greatness.

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV)
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Prayer is the first way you focus on today rather than tomorrow. Then, after you have humbled yourself before God by casting your cares on him, you get up and get busy. There’s a lot to do in the kingdom. (2)

As I mentioned in the beginning of today’s sermon, it’s been my heart filled desire that each of you folks will understand that God has given every Christian “The Antidote For Worry.” However, IT’S UP TO YOU AND ME TO USE IT!

Lord willing, next week….

Alexander Smellie, (1907) The Antidote For Fear, Grace Gems website.
When I Am Afraid, A Step-by-Step Guide Away From Fear And Anxiety. Copyright 2010 by Edward T. Welch. Published by New Growth Press. Pages 77-84.